For the second straight summer, Pacers guard Darren Collison is coaching Team Challenge ALS in The Basketball Tournament, an open-application, single-elimination tournament featuring 64 teams competing for a $2 million grand prize. Last year, Collison guided the team all the way to the title game, where they fell 86-83 to Overseas Elite.
Collison and crew are back for another year, looking to improve on last year's runner-up finish. They tipped off action last week, winning two games to advance to the regional semifinals.
Team Challenge ALS was assembled by Sean Marshall, a former Boston College star who was inspired by the story of Pete Frates, his college roommate who is suffering from ALS and popularized the Ice Bucket Challenge as a way to promote awareness of the disease.
If they win, the team will donate $250,000 of their winnings to ALS research.
The team's roster features mostly players originally from the Los Angeles area. Collison, who played at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga and later at UCLA, was brought on to coach the team.
The roster includes Jordan Hamilton, who played for four NBA teams over five seasons from 2011-16. Former Pacers forward Jeff Ayres (Pendergraph) is listed on the roster, but did not play in either of the team's first two games.
Team Challenge ALS opened tournament play on Saturday, July 14, with an 83-75 win over the Fort Hood Wounded Warriors. They won again the next day, picking up a 72-59 victory over CitiTeam Blazers. Hamilton led the way in that win, racking up 28 points and 18 rebounds.
Interestingly, their next game is against Sons of Westwood, a team made up primarily of players from Collison's alma mater. Their roster includes two of Collison's former teammates at UCLA, Lorenzo Mata and Malcolm Lee. Sons of Westwood also includes, Isaac Hamilton, the younger brother of Team Challenge ALS star Jordan Hamilton.
Team Challenge ALS and Sons of Westwood will meet in Atlanta this Saturday (July 28) at 3:00 PM ET on ESPN. The winner will advance to face either Gael Force (a team composed primarily of former St. Mary's players) or Eberlein Drive on Sunday at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN2.
The TBT Tournament semifinals and championship game will be held in Baltimore on Aug. 2 and 3.